The Merchant's Countdown
by SuchaNarcissist
Summary: The took the title at sixteen, inherited from his father, he was bigger, better, brighter. It had been his secret desire- now within reach, a clock ticking up. Moving towards the endgame, all those technological advancements, linked into Jarvis- into him- backdoor after backdoor. Tony was never one to knock. They wouldn't know what hit them.


In retrospect it probably shouldn`t have taken as long as it did for him to realise, SHEILD weren`t really helping him, they didn`t think he could do it; didn't think he could stop it all. Tony had wanted to make the changes for so long that actually making them for once was a nice change. The ball had long been in motion but only now had it really reached the slope. Tony was going to stop it all and save it all. No matter that everyone thought he was mad when he walked out of that room. Walked down the corridor of the ship he had built for them; and into the "interrogation room".

It had started when he was younger, the irrepressible want to do more. To help. To make it all right; he hated to see anyone else hurt, to see their pain. Over the years he had learnt to cover his soft heart with a mask of indifference, he fell into his work building better and brighter tools for mankind. It was all pushed under the table then; he was too young to be taken seriously and everyone saw his weapons as more valuable.

Then when he took control of the company his care was suppressed further, until one day even he forgot about it. Weapons still weren`t the only things he made though. Household appliances, communications, medical technology, farming technology, the list of advancements went on and on and on. But there were still more, pouring out of the source, overflowing. Leading him into mischief, alcohol and beds, so many beds.

Pepper worried, Jarvis worried, Obie worried, but they just couldn`t understand the need. He needed a task something to do, one night when he was in the bottom of a bottle he and Jarvis calculated just how long it would take them to take control of the world- and roughly how long they could keep it. At that point the count was low; only a few weeks by their estimations, but the idea persisted after he woke.

From then on all the tech he pumped out for about a year was improvements on previous systems, and upgrades. If he almost subconsciously programmed backdoors, carefully placed controls for Jarvis, it was just a precaution. The count went up.

Then came Afghanistan and the Ten Rings.

The betrayal of Obadiah pushed him onto new heights, with his new suit he finally had something to tinker that was a challenge. No matter that he was supposedly only on mark 2 or something by the time he realised he was dying, palladium to the chest and all that. It was another wake up call, even if he was on mark 36 by then, in secret. All his suits were able to be controlled from afar or worn. But he continued, advancements came faster than ever, medical tech took a hop, skip and a jump forward and Tony secretly had the shrapnel removed, it was an advantage to have over people. To make them think he was weak, that he had a weakness, they were wrong. Tony Stark had died in Afghanistan. The merchant of death had walked out of those caves.

It took less than six months in reality, his ideas that had just been left on his systems at his house were the start. He shoved them at Pepper, got everyone off his back and pushed through the stark tower build.

It was to be the first of many in every country. The words just a precaution went spinning through his mind again. The count has risen again, Jarvis was still updating it. Even Pepper noticed the changes then, the ball was rolling faster he could see that now. Others were noticing too. Fury noticed when the blueprints for a fresh load of tech and weapons appeared.

"Weapons again Stark, knew it wouldn`t be too long" The eye patch and the smile grating on his nerves. The next thing to show up at SHIELD headquarters was a fully functioning prosthetic eye, with special eye patch so nobody knew. The smile was worth it in the end. If it also had the benefit of being able to tap into his thoughts- just a little, well there`s always some price to pay.

He had felt the build up long before he realised what was happening in truth. When he finally met her it was little surprise. He had known that the hand of death was upon him for some, not killing, just steering. When she had first shown up in his workshop he had only been startled for a few seconds, in truth he had known her so well once. (The reflection of the desert on his sunglasses, the dust trail behind the wheels of the jeep). He had come so close to meeting her in person that to do so now was little surprise to him.

"Would you like a drink? And what name do you prefer in this end of the woods?"

"Yes I would enjoy a drink with you, and in this world- and the others I go by Hel, or Lady of Death"

"Well then Hel what news from the dark side of the force?"

Even in difficult situations his natural insubordination broke through his mask; and his mask was so fractured now. But the words that came next were a surprise to him.

"My faithful Merchant, it is almost time as you know. But know that when they see you as weakest you are strongest; and in truth there is little of humanity left of you now, as you know, there is so little time left but you must know, I would call you different now, the mask has been broken for so long, you have been wearing the shards, but in truth it was a chrysalis, it is time to break free. Merchant of death, and show your true colours. You must decide them for yourself."

It had always been the way, as he improved he caught up with the ones who had lead him there in the first place. He was no longer human, caught up in the schemes of gods and monsters. Leading the fight from the shadows. The lord of the masquerade. The two faces of Tony Stark, one human one immortal.

It was funny how after just one visit it came to a head. 12%. Humour. Avengers. Serious. It all fell into place so quickly then. The count was so high now, it had never lost a single number, not through everything. His brain was finally able to show itself truly, and the game was afoot; a mind chip, he and Jarvis could never be separated again, hollowed out bones to carry his suit internally, bracelets to summon the other few hundred suits whenever he wished, a watch programmed and ready for anything he needed, the mark 40 suit for regular flying, his starkphone- voice activated if really necessary. Not like he needed any tech any more with him and Jarvis in one head, a constant stream of knowledge, as he finally poured out everything.

Blueprints, schematics, pointless information and facts. The things that had been in his head for so long without him being able to get them out. The ones that had been buried so deep that he had never really gotten a good night's sleep; All pouring onto Jarvis' servers, safe and controlled. Silence in his head, peace, finally, and so much more space for him to think, the capacity he should always have had if not for the mask.

It was only going to be used for another day, the worn, beaten, shattered mask. Hel had told the truth that day. Without the mask he could truly see himself- the flickers of red power round his fingers, a craftsman`s power, the skill of his workman's hands, the extra few inches of height that pushed him from 5 foot 8 to an easy six foot. The assured self confidence, the power made him seem different, stronger, wilder. The mask of humanity that he had hid in for so long was so deceptive, to hide his heritage so fully. But dwarves were deceptive creatures, even half human dwarves. The skills had shown up early but the immortality was a nice touch. As was the heat proof, fire proof skin.

He hadn`t realised when he was younger of course, but then the tapes from his father were found; and in the journal the code that he and Howard had used, when his father could bother with him at all. The code was code for another set of journals at one of the Stark mansions. The truth about Tony's mother was inside. As a dwarf from Svartálfaheimr Midgard was not suited to dwarves, and soon after giving birth to her son she returned. Only to be killed for her travels by the dark elves of the same world. Tony had not been shocked. He looked nothing like his supposed mother Maria.

It had led him here, blasting Shoot to thrill through the air, threatening another god. The mask was up for the final time and the game was ending. The pieces were in place. Then the other god arrived, the blond burly one. The resulting fight warned him of their capacity, the names told him everything SHIELD had on them, and the fact that Loki didn`t run said so much more, it said I want to be captured. Tony had trouble seeing how it could be any more obvious; he wasn`t going to give him away though, the spiel about wanting to save the world from itself was familiar to him.

Then after they had all decided to play nice and join the others, it became obvious to Tony what had happened. Torture leaves scars that only another who has been through something similar can detect. Loki was another such individual. The reasoning behind his invasion was clear then. The choice was before him, help the mortals against a god, or put his plan into motion and save the god. The choice did not take long. SHEILD weren`t really helping him, the ball was in motion but only now had it really reached the steepest slope. No matter that everyone thought he was mad when he walked out of that room. Walked down the corridor of the ship he had built for them; and into the "interrogation room".

It was odd to look at someone so similar to him whilst wearing the mask. Their view of him became distorted; and they could not see the truth. But this immortal, this god could. It was there in his eyes, he may not have seen through the whole mask but he was more open to this man than he had ever been to anyone else before, it was like flying, finally some of the load was dropping away, he was revealing his hand to the world.

"So you`re Loki then"

"What do you want Stark?"

"So you know me then?"

"You are famous across the world, even I have heard of you"

"So you want to take over the world then"

"You know that to be true already, why do you persist in asking me these insignificant questions?"

"I would like to know how your daughter is, I haven`t seen her in a while"

"You know my daughter?"

 **FIN**

 **This would be a singular one shot for now i.e. wait till exams are over then we'll see.**


End file.
